I love that the Obamas are out there living their best lives and how mad it makes the haters. https://t.co/KC4P8ot7dF
— The Biden Accomplishments Guy™ (@What46HasDone) April 28, 2023
We voted to restore democracy and build a more hopeful future.
We also very specifically voted for a guy who sleeps in a big bed with his wife and is therefore uninterested in ruining our collective off hours with random, Diet Coke-fueled insanity.
— zeddy (@Zeddary) April 28, 2023
"????Biden has most of his appointments between 10AM and 4PM" has real "40% of our work absences occur on Mondays and Fridays" energy.
— cai (@AnneNotation) April 28, 2023
people jeered when biden said he'd bring down the temperature of politics but right now the media is reporting he has meetings during "the daytime" as republicans fuss about "gay beer", look up m&m voice actors, and argue whether chocolate chip ice cream is a hatch act violation
— cai (@AnneNotation) April 29, 2023
Wow. Is NYT Pitchbot off for the day and the actual paper of record picking up the slack? Because, wow, guys. Hats off to you for this one! @DougJBalloon pic.twitter.com/DyV2r5PLn8
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) April 25, 2023
Unlike many have hoped, the Democratic Party has not yet desibanded and arrested itself for communistic treason, but continues to field candidates in elections. What is behind this blatant power grab?
— Slava Malamud ???? (@SlavaMalamud) April 25, 2023
Biden leaning into the “idea that Republicans are banning books.” What a weird idea Sam! I wonder what gave him that idea https://t.co/Y8wy3G4K0g
— Kitara Revanchist (@canderaid) April 28, 2023
Biden is leaning strongly into the idea that the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party is composed of leopards who eat people’s faces. Whether you agree or not, this rhetoric is highly divisive and unlikely to persuade leopard-leaning voters
— Kitara Revanchist (@canderaid) April 28, 2023
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
OzarkHillbilly
Blech. Got another busy day today.
Baud
The media misses the late night rage tweets.
I for one am thankful that Anne Laurie keeps longer hours than Biden.
Baud
I’m still waiting for Frank Bruni to voluntarily step down.
Baud
I hear Biden often works from home too.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: He’s showing up us slackers and giving us a bad name.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Doug J has really hit the big time. He’s never coming home to BJ.
Baud
I’m watching The Last Thing He Told Me on Apple TV, and it’s shocking because the characters aren’t using iPhones.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Well, Twitter collapses…
But yeah, he’s found his calling.
Jeffro
Just the thought of Melania being invited on stage to sing with a rock star (ANY rock star) makes me laugh. I know that doesn’t speak too well of me but oh well. They’re called “deplorables” for a reason.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I have to get my driver’s license renewed, and I’m old enough that I have to take a road test. In theory, I think that’s not a bad idea. In practice, if they make me parallel park, I’m going to have to learn bus schedules
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Which president held public events at 8AM?
If Biden was holding event btwn 8 and 10 AM they would be bitching that it was too early, forcing them to come to work during rush hour traffic.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Get one of those cars that parallel parks automatically.
lowtechcyclist
Good morning, y’all! My wife is officially retired at the end of a long career at the Census Bureau. This is a busy weekend for other reasons, but on Monday, she will be sitting on the deck with a book and a drink when she would used to have been working.
I’ll be retiring too, but I’m waiting until mid-December. I’ll go away for the holidays, and won’t be coming back afterward.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
👍
WereBear
@Baud: While you knit an entire ensemble.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I seem to remember a Former Guy in that office whose schedule had no events at all, just a vague note that he’ll “make many phone calls and see many people.”
Ohio Mom
@Dorothy A. Winsor: it may be that Maneuverability test: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zg97k4xopiY
If you are very worried about this, you could call a driving ed school and ask for a lesson or two to practice. They will have the cones all set up. Or some other set-up where you can practice parallel parking without doing any damage.
I always worry about passing the vision test even though I know my eyes are fine, I go to the eye doctor every six months. The drug I take for my RA, the famous hydroxychloroquine, can destroy your retinas so they are always checking my sight. So far, so good.
Anyway
What are they talking about? The Cheetolini’s schedule consisted of watching CNN/Fox and flushing docs down the toilet. He had few public events and had oodles of free time on his calendar.
WereBear
@lowtechcyclist: Congrats to you both. There are definite pluses.
Kay
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Agree. It’s silly. 10 AM is fine and probably standard.
Ohio Mom
@lowtechcyclist: Congrats to Mrs. lowtechcyclist!
Raven
We had to cancel our beach trip because garden girl hurt he back. . . In the garden. She’s recalibrating her work out there and considering hiring help since I’m worthless.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Ohio Mom: When I got my license, a crucial part of why I passed was that I took the test in the driving instructor’s car, and he had coached me on exactly how to parallel park with that car. Where to line it up, exactly how far to turn the steering wheel, etc.
Raven
@lowtechcyclist: Cool! My bride retired two years before me and she’s 8 years younger! I recommend “The Retirement Maze” as a great read.
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Retirement_Maze.html?id=BljOvsB5XQQC&source=kp_book_description
WereBear
I got to learn parallel parking with cones and thank goodness because they gave me a giant Buick because I was tall.
Brakes and steering felt like they were made of marshmallow.
Baud
@Anyway:
They want to focus on the age issue, so they need tidbits to report, no matter how lame. The media is unaccountable when it comes to critiquing Dems.
OzarkHillbilly
@Anyway: and had oodles of executive time on his calendar.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
The Axios guy I saw on MSNBC actually compared Biden’s schedule to Trump’s executive time.
Like I said, unaccountable.
Rusty
I’m glad there is only the idea of banning books and not the actual banning of books. (Our local school system had to set up a committee to review books in the school library because of the screeching of the right wing loons in town. Most don’t even have kids in the school system, but they want to make sure yur kids don’t get to read what they don’t like) This and Bruni’s comment, and then the press pisses and moans that Biden doesn’t hold enough press conferences. I recall that when they finally got one they asked some deep questions about the Space Force uniforms. We need a decent press, unfortunately we aren’t going to get one any time soon.
Ohio Mom
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Also, no one learns bus schedules anymore, they just consult an app (there are a bunch of them).
Amir Khalid
@Jeffro:
Bear in mind that it would have to be one of the right-wing rockers, like Ted Nugent or Kid Rock. Imagine, if you can — I can’t — Melania joining in the chorus on Wang Dang Poontang or Bawitdaba.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
He said “star.”
Ohio Mom
@Rusty: Oh, books are banned all the time, usually not at the current pace and as widespread as they are right now.
(https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/arts/book-ban-attempts-reach-record-high-in-2022-american-library-association-report-says)
It’s usually unnoticeable. A school district gets uncomfortable with Mark Twain’s use of the n word and poof — Huck Finn is removed from the curriculum and the school library.
But wholesale removal of every book in a classroom, so they can be “reviewed” is new.
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
Well, the Nuge and the Kid are what pass for rock stars on the American right.
kalakal
Good for Michelle! That clip was a great start to my day.
In worldwide weirdness I found out this week that amongst the categories of records for marathon runners there is apparently “fastest time while dressed as a landmark”
I discovered this while watching this
poor sod
channeling Wile E Coyote
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
Heavy metal cover of “Tomorrow Belongs to Me?”
//
Geminid
Montana Senator Tester weighed in on state Rep. Zoey Zephyr’s banishment from the Montana House floor:
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
I am down on self-driving cars and their possibilities, but parallel parking is the kind of simple, predictable task where they should excel.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
While I would never own a Tesla as long as Musk owns the company, they have this neat radar system that shows the lanes and surrounding cars and obstacles on the screen. Mostly gimmicky, but I can see that being useful driving at night or in bad weather when visibility is low.
I don’t know if other automakers have that, but the tech doesn’t seem that complicated to implement.
lowtechcyclist
@Raven:
Thanks! On account of your having recommended it before, I ordered it from Amazon recently, and it came in last weekend.
And my wife is 10 years younger than me, so same idea here! But her job was driving her nuts, while I’m still OK with mine for a little while longer.
And thanks to everyone else for your kind thoughts and words, I’ll pass them along!
kalakal
@Amir Khalid:
I’ve just had an awful vision of Jerry Hall redoing Let’s Stick Together with Rupert Murdoch instead of
Bryan Ferry
Geminid
Czech President and (and notorious thirst trap) Petr Pavel is visiting Ukraine:
Yesterday Dnipro was one of the targets of Russia’s murderous pre-dawn missile barrage. A young mother and child were killed in their suburban home.
Burnspbesq
FTFNYT is reporting that the Special Counsel is looking into the possibility of bringing wire fraud charges against the leadership of Save America PAC (you know who that includes), based on its use of known false allegations of election fraud to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.
The penalty upon conviction is 20 years plus a fine “under this title.” Not sure whether that means disgorgement.
opiejeanne
@Baud: I think Subaru offers that, and I think Kia does too. We test drove a couple of new cars recently because we gave our Subaru to our son.
kalakal
@lowtechcyclist: Congrats to her!
My wife retired a couple of years ago, I’m very jealous 😄
Quinerly
@lowtechcyclist:
Congrats to your wife!
mrmoshpotato
MEDIA: WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! We want the orange manchild back! He was fun!
kalakal
Looking at the morons and swine that make up the GQP I want to spit and weep.
Then I look at the morons and swine that make up the UK Gov’t and I want to spit and weep again
Here is James Cleverly, UK Foreign Secretary and walking disproof of nominative determinism, showing the “world beating” intellectual rigour that, in its leaders, makes a nation great
Cleverly on the ball
Geminid
I regularly read President Biden’s daily schedule as provided by Politico Playbook. It typically shows the President receiving his daily security briefing during the 9am hour, with Vice President Harris frequently attending.
Even though reporters and TV cameras are not allowed, I think Mr. van der Hei knows this and he should have noted it.
narya
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Bruce isn’t that much younger than Joey B, and Jagger will be 80 this year, yet they manage to keep rocking.
Today’s project is figuring out how I want to cook the boar tenderloin I have (to be served w/ asparagus and risotto, and maybe some of the ramps in the former or latter).
Ken
In the Baud! 20xx administration, can I be the official purveyor of late night rage tweets?
I have other ideas for ways to keep the media engaged, like an island getaway with a “Most Dangerous Game” theme.
RSA
Do they still? Every once in a while I read about Musk’s dislike for lidar/radar. This is on Telsa’s site now:
https://www.tesla.com/support/transitioning-tesla-vision
It seems like a poor decision, to me.
Baud
@RSA:
I only saw the output on the screen. I don’t know what tech it was using to capture the outside world.
Barbara
@Baud: A lot of cars have some version of this technology. I recently had a loaner new model Tesla and I think that feature was most useful when it identified vehicles getting close at higher speeds. There was a sound and the vehicle was marked red as it zoomed by. Drew your attention to the higher threat.
mrmoshpotato
@Jeffro:
She’d be one of the pole dancers on Kid Rock’s stage.
(He seriously had pole dancers on stage during his set back in 2000. Maybe he still does today.)
Jeffg166
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m 75. Haven’t been behind the wheel of a car in 50 years. I ask people if they want me to go out and get a car.
Buses, subway and trains are a great way to get around.
With the bus I don’t have to pay attention to the driving I can zone out. I get off at my stop then walk to where I want to go. No need to look for a parking space. It’s great.
Baud
@Ken:
Maybe a scavenger hunt to find all the nuclear codes hidden around DC.
mrmoshpotato
@lowtechcyclist: Mimosa o’clock!
Ken
My new car has a dashboard touchscreen. Every now and then, I’m not sure why, it will switch from showing the backup camera or radio controls to a message along the lines of “Remember that taking your eyes off the road can cause accidents”.
Which of course requires that I take my eyes off the road while I locate and tap the “OK” button on the screen.
Quinerly
5 dead in Texas. Ar 15
https://abcnews.go.com/US/5-dead-texas-shooting-suspect-armed-ar-15/story?id=98957271
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Ohio Mom: I should be fine. I’m a nervous driver, but not a bad one. I think.
@Jeffg166: Good public transportation can’t be beat. The Metra is the way to get to downtown Chicago from here. I can’t imagine bothering with a car for that trip
Baud
@Ken:
Haha. That’s perfect.
Barbara
@Ken: I would try to see if you can disable that feature. The Tesla feature was visual such that your eye travels in the same direction that the danger is coming from. It was pretty nifty.
Baud
@Barbara:
The Tesla I was in had a glass roof. I thought that was neat. It’s a shame about the fascism. The company made some cool tech mainstream.
mrmoshpotato
@narya:
Suzanne
I’m so jealous at the notion of retiring. I like my career fine, my office is fine…. but damn, if I could afford not to work, I would not. I used to kill myself for my job. I no longer do that. It isn’t worth it.
Kay
Baud
@Suzanne:
I was work focused until I realized I wasn’t getting rewarded for my efforts.
Ken
Oh dear. I see there has been another smoking accident, this time at the Russian oil depot in Sevastopol.
Baud
@Kay:
They always use the most gentle, clinical language when the criminal is a right winger.
MomSense
@Jeffg166:
I like taking the bus to and from work. I listen to a book, knit, and ignore the road. Unfortunately I still have to drive to all the other places. I don’t get the love affair with cars anymore. When I was a teenager I couldn’t wait to have a car, but now the less time I spend driving the better.
narya
@mrmoshpotato: My local Hippie Meat Purveyors (Mint Creek Farm, in Stelle, IL, but also at farmers’ markets)! I don’t think it’s WILD boar, but still. My inclination is to sear it in the bacon fat I have, then stick it in the oven. If I get ambitious, I’ll go get some frozen cherries and make a sauce w/ that; if I’m less ambitious, I’ll use the Raspberry Enlightenment from Penzey’s that’s in my fridge, along w/ some red wine, and sauce it that way
ETA: probably about two pounds? It has some fat on it, unlike usual tenderloins, which is why I want it to spend some time in the oven after searing, to get that fat rendered.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: The way to really fly
Another Scott
@Ken: I saw a review of some 2023 car recently (which I cannot find again, of course, maybe a Prius Prime extended drive at R&T, maybe something else) that talked about the overly naggy driver’s aids.
It was constantly yelling that you have taken your eyes off the road!!1, even if you were looking ahead to turn left, etc.
As Barbara mentioned, you can turn it off.
I assume that in 10-20 years, the tech will be great and an actual help in that 0.1% of the time when looking away means you miss a dangerous threat ahead. But getting there is going to be painful…
Cheers,
Scott.
opiejeanne
@mrmoshpotato: I’m just amazed that they have ramps.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
The kids call that quiet quitting, which unlike the outrage hype, just means doing your job and nothing more. Sounds good to me. I’m still way too overworked and haven’t figured out how to handle it.
narya
@opiejeanne: From my farm share! last week, this week, and next week, at least. I’ve been cooking them a bit, then pureeing; the cooking mellows them a bit, and the pesto that results is spectacular. Also means I can freeze some.
mrmoshpotato
@narya: Ah yes. You’ve mentioned Mint Creek Farm before.
Wapiti
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My father took the road test last year, and managed to pass. His current license is valid through 2030. Gee, DMV, do you think there’s any chance of decline between 90 and 98?
Suzanne
@MomSense: I mean, I still work nine hours a day. I just…. don’t do more than that unless there’s a very compelling reason. Clients have a hard time deciding what they want, but that’s their problem, not mine.
narya
@mrmoshpotato: I’m a fan of their meat. It is NOT cheap, but I really like their farming and animal husbandry practices, and it is so tasty. I also have a boar shoulder roast and some lamb stew meat in the freezer, and I get their ground beef to mix with the ground venison I have.
Quinerly
Wasted AM in Albuquerque in a consultation w/ a cataract surgeon….surgery that I put off in Covid Times & now caught in the trap of New Mexico healthcare shortage. The start of my cataracts came in my 50’s, supposedly from being in the sun so much…Now 62.
Anyway, I have worn contacts for 42 years. Nearsighted. Later years Astigmatism & in the last 7 years contacts set up for monovision (which I love)…left eye for distance & right eye for reading.
Consultation was w/ a very young cataract surgeon who did a poor job of explaining the 3 kinds of surgery. Plus, they asked if this guy from corporate could sit in & observe. He was some sort of quality control guy. So, not a good sign from the get go. I had done some research before going & was interested in the second kind of surgery which, of course removes the cataracts, but also corrects both the Astigmatism & nearsightedness. I think I understood before going that I would still wear contacts, which is OK. I told her that I realized that insurance doesn’t pay all of it but I was still interested to understand about it….explore it as an option. We got in a “round robin” w/ her just explaining the “standard” surgery….and not very well…I couldn’t get an answer out of whether I could continue to wear contacts for being near sighted & maybe have to add readers for readers or glasses for driving. Then she finally admitted she only does the standard surgery (I had made it clear when I made the appointment that I was interested in understanding all 3 types of surgeries, plus my Astigmatism, nearsightedness, and monovision).
Hate to be so long winded, but wondering if anybody out there is nearsighted, with Astigmatism, and wears contacts….and has had cataract surgery. We don’t have to fill up this thread with my personal issue. Fell free to get my email from a frontpager. It’s extremely frustrating since I waited months for this appt and now starting over. Need to be armed with a little more personal knowledge. Thanks!
mrmoshpotato
@opiejeanne: Boar skateparks are known for their ramps.
Kay
@Baud:
We’re going to need a special “seniors” section in prison for all the rageaholic Right wingers.
Violent crime used to a be a young man thing. They settled down when they got older. At the courthouse it was like “he’s 38– God buddy, grow up”. Not anymore! Now they launch criminal careers at 75.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@mrmoshpotato:
You’ll want it to have a little pink so as to be edible.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Kay:
I mean, to be fair to the shooter, the person he shot WAS using a leaf blower….
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Kay:
He was a good guy with a gun until he wasn’t.
mrmoshpotato
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
Not burnt to a crisp? :)
Kay
@Suzanne:
There’s kind of a nice groove you get into towards the retirement end of a career where you don’t have to work that hard but you’re just as productive because you’ve been doing it so long. Almost nothing is new. I think that’s why people stick around and don’t retire immediately when they can- there’s this sweet spot where you’re making more money but not working as hard as you did mid career.
Yiu see this in Biden with the debates. Everyone else on stage was just busting ass and he was easily batting away questions and when he would respond at length he really knew his stuff. He just knows a lot. He has a huge bank of experience to pull from.
opiejeanne
@narya: There are some people who have brought the seeds from Michigan to the northern Cascades and are trying to get them to naturalize in the PNW.
The one market that I thought might have some has recipes for fresh ramps, but their search engine doesn’t recognize them, or wild leeks.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@mrmoshpotato:
Or as chewy as a boot.
opiejeanne
@mrmoshpotato: haha.
Dang, I wish you had come to the meetup when we were in Chicago last May.
Benw
I saw Bruce and the E Street Band just a couple weeks ago! They were amazing, of course. The whole concert was just a giant flex. He and the band played for two hours of awesome deep cuts and THEN they played the hits for another hour!
BlueGuitarist
Knoxville, TN principal informed parents of
“An incident in a classroom involved an extremely loud noise”
An hour later, announced early dismissal.
A gun went off in the backpack of a 14 year old student, “grazing” a teacher.
https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1652283171268960257?cxt=HHwWgoC9vciyi-4tAAAA
narya
@opiejeanne: I had never had them before this year. I knew people went nuts for them, but hadn’t come across them. Since they were available in the farm share, I figured what the hell. I love alliums of all kinds–they are magic–and I am enjoying them. I think they’ll go in the risotto . . .
narya
@Benw: ohhhhh, I’m so envious! The concerts in Chicago are badly timed for me, plus the seats are STUPID expensive. I’ve seen him 30 times or so, but paying a grand for a crap seat at Wrigley Field is a bridge too far for me. I’ve seen concerts at Wrigley, including Bruce, and it’s not a great venue for a concert.
Benw
@narya: 30 times!? You go. I’ve never seen him, so it was time to suck it up and pay MSG-level prices for the nosebleeds. It was still amazing!
Also, Bruce and Little Steven are adorable goofballs, in the best way.
opiejeanne
@narya: My house still smells very onion-y this morning, because of the shallots I sliced and cooked for a recipe. We get a weekly delivery of food kits, supposed to be 2 meals for 2 people, but they are really enough for 4 nights. The shallots were for “enchiladas”, (I laughed), and when I saw that the tortillas they’d included were flour and not corn, I decided we were having burritos instead, lightly cooked in a little olive oil until the cheese melted and the tortilla was lightly browned. And I changed out the mozzarella (really!) for shredded cheddar and jack. it worked well, the enchilada sauce is in the fridge. They did give me sour cream to finish the dish, but whoever made up this recipe tried to gild the lily
I told them to skip next week. When the program wanted to know why I told it I didn’t like any of the menu choices, instead of just saying I had other plans. The recipes were really good at the beginning, but they are getting kind of strange now and I really wish they would repeat some of the ones from January.
Kay
Great story. “Banned Bunnies”
NotMax
@opiejeanne
“We’re innocent until proven gildy.”
:)
Cameron
@Kay: Right after their second childhood.
Another Scott
@Quinerly: My J just had her left eye done last week and is still in the recovery stage. She’s very near sighted (-6) and has worn contacts most of her life. Her twin is the same and had it done a few years ago. Both of them are sensitive to weights on their noses, so they don’t want to have to wear more than lightweight readers going forward, if possible.
Her left eye got a multi-focal implant. J is seeing various rings and shadows and weird reflections from overhead lights that she doesn’t like and is worried about, but her eye doc says things are going well – no signs of tears, it is positioned properly, etc., (Yesterday he said he hasn’t heard of these early-post-implant symptoms/issues that she’s experiencing before.) I assume that it’s her eye slowly readjusting to the different lens (MayoClinic says recovery can take up to 8 weeks). There aren’t many blood vessels in the eye around the lens and cornea, so recovery is slow (in spite of the “some people see great in just a couple of days!” stuff.) J isn’t seeing the “halos” that are apparently reasonably common with multifocals, maybe that comes later, or maybe it won’t be an issue with her.
J is very observant about her body, and wants to understand everything that is going on, but a bit of a worry-er. It’s hard on her when she’s thinking about the worst possible outcome, even when there’s little sign of that being the case. :-(
I think, based upon her twin, that the recovery is going well and as expected, but she has to be patient.
She hasn’t fully decided about the 2nd lens yet.
J may be remembering what happened to her father when he had a cornea transplant. It is routine surgery, but somehow it wasn’t stitched on uniformly and his cornea was badly mis-shapened afterwards to the extent that (apparently) they weren’t able to make eyeglasses for him for him to be able to read with it. So, there are always risks with this stuff, even for “routine” procedures. :-(
I hope this helps a little, and doesn’t freak you out! You need to be comfortable with the people working on your eyes, even if that means putting things off until you find that person.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Spanky
@MomSense:
I was years ahead of my time.
BellyCat
Horrific.
But, but… our Founding Fathers didn’t intend the 2nd Amendment to apply to Hispanics! //
Quinerly
@Another Scott:
Thanks! It sounds to me that she got the third kind of surgery which I had moved completely off the table mostly because of added expense. It is $4000-$6000 more per eye, after insurance pays. The second kind I am trying to learn about is about $2000 more per eye, at least that’s what the doctor said yesterday. (She actually was more into talking about its cost then explaining the differences re expected outcome between it and the standard one…plus, as I said, she only does the standard one)
Her symptoms also sound like what I have read about. Sometimes you do end up with burst of light. I am only going on what I have read re the multiform lens implants.
Thank you so much for taking the time to weigh in.
Steve in the ATL
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: if there is ever a case for jury nullification….
Another Scott
@Another Scott:
Here it is – MotorTrend.com – First test of 2023 Prius Prime:
[clippy] It looks like you’re not driving to my standards. Would you like me to help you with that? [/clippy]
Cheers,
Scott.
Phylllis
@lowtechcyclist: My official last day is June 30 and I plan to emulate your wife on my first non-working Monday in 42 years as well.
Barbara
@Kay: It’s scary to think about the combination of early dementia, gun culture and the kind of “grievance entitlement” that is being cultivated by Fox and company. My neighborhood chat board is full of people complaining about their neighbors disturbing the peace with lawn mowers and leaf blowers. Hate to think about adding a gun to the mix.
rikyrah
@lowtechcyclist:
Congratulations👏🏾to her. Hope that she has a long retirement
Bunter
@Quinerly:
I was nearsighted, still have astigmatism, wore contacts and have had cataract surgery, both eyes, two years apart. I didn’t care about the astigmatism, and didn’t even know it could be corrected then. Oh well. I had monovision lenses put in which insurance didn’t cover but I didn’t want to wear contacts after the surgery if I didn’t need to. It’s been a decade and I still don’t need contacts, probably will at same later time but not yet. First eye took about a full week to recover, I had only sepia tones for five days and then felt like a “pop” and color came back. Second eye, was fine the following morning. Two different surgeries though which might have been why. First eye was the regular and the second was laser.
citizen dave
Sevastopol oil explosion is of course trending over at twitter. Impressive pictures. Wondering if this will be an excuse for world oil (gasoline pump) prices to get jacked up. Go Ukraine!
The 40% of all sick days occur on Monday and Friday is one of my favorite things to say, especially at work. It’s a good test to see if people get it
Asylum Street Spankers, “Leaf Blower” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh3o1_whqu4
I’ve had a battery-powered one for years, it’s not nearly as loud. Gas-powered lawn equipment is the bane of my existence. Fortunately I don’t own any guns.
Geminid
@Barbara: There are many good reasons to encourage the transition from gas-powered landscape equipment to electric. I guess we could add gun safety.
cain
@mrmoshpotato: I bet if Melania did do such a thing on stage as pole dancing (which honestly, it’s pretty damn hard and nothing wrong with doing it) – the conservatives would eat it up even though if it was anyone else they’d call her every horrible name.
rikyrah
@Kay:
We don’t have a SYG law in Illinois😠
cain
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Having just come back from Europe, so much enjoyed taking public transportation. So easy to get around a big city like Paris or Prague.
Steve in the ATL
@Benw: daughter saw him a few weeks ago in Greensboro. Said it was amazing!
I first saw him in the mid-eighties and he was amazing then too.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Kay,
I don’t know if you responded to me in an earlier thread, but are you and Mr. Kay retiring? Is that why you’re moving to Michigan?
rikyrah
@opiejeanne:
Yummm😋😋😋
cain
@narya: I find it unnerving that just about everything is out of reach for quite a lot of Americans when it comes to entertainment. Big band shows are at 100+ dollars, trying to get a seasons pass or even just catch a sports game live is prohibitively expensive.
I just don’t know how kids are able to get into anything.
Quinerly
It’s hard to decide who to hate the most in the Repug Party (my dad called them “Repugs” up until his death in 2007. He had some dementia in last 5 years of his life but Repug for “Repugnant” was ingrained deep. Point at the TV and say, “Repug” during the lead up to the 2008 election.)
“Joe Biden is 142 years old,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in an interview on Fox News, mocking Biden’s age. “In a very release sense this election, the Democrats are suggesting Kamala Harris for president.”
Cruz added: “Can you image Kamala sitting across from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin? Can you imagine Kamala sitting across from (Chinese President) Xi (Jinping)? And when they stand up and bully America, which is what they do, can you imagine her just cackling ineffectively and weirdly and creepily?”
Kay
@Barbara:
We have one but I don’t read it or comment. I just don’t want to know.
Baud
@cain:
Baseball is still fairly cheap in most places. Not sure about other sports.
eversor
While I hate Bush I will say that Bush, Obama, and Clinton all passed the “is this person a human” test. Biden also passes that, Trump does not. Most of the R candidates look to me like a freak show. At some point just scream “bring out the geek” and let one of them bite the head off a live chicken. At least it would be entertaining. And I could be more sympathetic to DeSantis if he did it because at this point he’s close to that level of humiliation. DeSantis is probably more going to be “bring out the gimp” and then watch his ball gagged bobble headed face get fucked by Trump live on TV.
The Obamas are great and the right rages that they aren’t invited into the “in crowd”. But it’s not really the “in crowd” it’s just your average normal people who look at them and just nope right out of the door.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Saw a TikTok last night where the local head of an NAACP branch was questioning the Moms For Liberty School Board candidate about the specifics of DEI that she objected too.
The Moms For Liberty candidate was sputtering gobbledy gook, while the head of the NAACP schooled them.
Yessss… More of that
Baud
@Quinerly:
Not surprised. They can’t touch Joe. They’re going to run against Kamala. I don’t think it’ll work.
rikyrah
@Barbara:
Did you see the picture going around on social media of this old White Man “patrolling” his neighborhood. Just walking down the street with a gun..😠😠
Quinerly
@Steve in the ATL:
Saw him in NOLA at Jazz and Heritage Festival. First fest after Katrina. He was fantastic. Right after “We Shall Overcome:The Pete Seeger Sessions” came out or maybe just before
Incredible show. Incredible festival that year. Just amazing.
Kay
@rikyrah:
We sort of are – slowly. This summer I’ll be in Michigan 4 days and Ohio 3.
I don’t believe he actually will retire and the assistant he has had since 1993 doesn’t believe he will either. Lawyers stick around so long because there’s a bigger pay off for less and less effort with experience, so he’s not working as hard as he did at 40 and 50 but he’s making more. I think it’s true for lots of jobs – the learning curve is over and it’s all pay off for experience. It’s hard to leave that money on the table. He’s also very social and lawyering is social- he hated remote work during covid. He was just moping around.
Kirk
@Quinerly:
It’s always projection.
narya
@Benw: First concert was 1984 in Philadelphia. I’ve had terrible seats and third-row seats, and seats behind the stage, and every damn show was wonderful. My friend was a Bruce-hater but agreed to go to a show w/me (he likes all kinds of live music). Because we arrived for the wristband line at different times, he ended up in front of the stage–he had to move back a little so he could get a better sound mix. I was delighted, because I knew it would turn him into a Bruce-appreciator, if not an actual Bruce fan, and I was right. I’m bummed to be missing this tour, though.
geg6
@Kay:
I was in that sweet spot before COVID, but have found in the year or so since we went back to “normal” that the sweet spot is gone. This is mainly due to a massive staff turnover and either no replacements being hired or inexperienced hires that has led administration to put more and more and more responsibilities on long time staff like me. I am quiet quitting as much as possible until I reach the full SS retirement age. I used to love my job and it was my refuge when all else in my life may have been sucked. Now it’s what is making my life suck. I can’t wait to retire and will jump at it if they decide to do a buyout of more “expensive” staff as a part of the University’s current cost cutting. Still love the students, but fuck the University.
mrmoshpotato
@narya:
2012, upper deck basically right behind home plate. Awesome seats. :)
Phylllis
@Baud: Yep, our minor league baseball team games are routinely well attended; lots of families with young kids, as well as teenagers & college kids.
narya
@mrmoshpotato: Hah! I was downstairs, under the overhang, not quite along the third base line. It was a great show, for sure!
@cain: Yeah, it’s a problem. The artists–including Bruce–were getting tired of scalpers essentially reaping the prices that the market would bear, and I can’t really blame them for that. But everything is crazy–I used to go to a lot of live events (hockey, baseball, and concerts, mostly), but am just not willing to spend the money at this point. If the Bruce shows hadn’t been during a week when I expect to be out of town, I miiiiiight have sucked it up and gone to one show, but, as my previous comments demonstrate, I’m a huge fan and he’s really the only artist for whom I’d even consider paying that price.
Quinerly
@Kirk:
Yep.
I feel so sorry for that one daughter of his.
mrmoshpotato
@Barbara:
They must love their rakes, brooms, and manual lawn mowers. Or are they fans of the scythe?
OverTwistWillie
@mrmoshpotato:
The nice Guatemalan man shows up when I’m at work. Ergo, I generate no noise.
That’s just science.
opiejeanne
@Phylllis: Even major league baseball games are affordable for families in some areas. The Angels are currently offering 4 tickets for $44, and it includes 4 hot dogs and 4 12oz drinks (Coca Cola drinks). Of course they’re bleacher seats, but that’s right above where Mike Trout plays in center field.
mrmoshpotato
@Quinerly: “I do not like that man Ted Cruz.”
John Oliver compilation – WARNING: LOTS of Ted’s disgusting face.
CaseyL
@Barbara: I joined NextDoor when the crazy/not crazy ratio was better than it is now. People talked about yard sales, or defended the neighborhood coyote packs from nitwits who advocated getting rid of them.
I only use the marketplace “Finds” these days, but still get Notifications in Gmail under the “Social” tag. Every single post, and I do mean every single post, is about STRANGERS WALKING DOWN THE STREET, SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE LOOKING AT MY HOUSE, and so on. The paranoia is completely out of control. This is the north end of Seattle, so I don’t expect a whole lot of gunplay, but people are simply going insane so who knows?
mrmoshpotato
@eversor:
Did Cheney pass your test too?
Quinerly
@mrmoshpotato:
Here’s a story for you. Pretty much minimum sized lot where I now live outside of Santa Fe is 2 acres. I dip into The TOXIC Nextdoor once in awhile. Mostly to learn stuff about the neighborhood and the HOA. Love my house and NM. Thankfully I made a lot of friends out here before I bought in the neighborhood. And have outside interests where I meet interesting people who aren’t my immediate neighbors.
One resident asked if windchimes were against some sort of rule. She has had 2 sets “removed.” Clearly someone had come on her property on 2 occasions to steal them…..at least that’s my take. The thread was up to 25 plus comments before I couldn’t take it anymore and had to weigh in. At that point, it was a mostly an anti windchime thread, with people seem to be supporting the removal…and lecturing her about “noise pollution.” One women said she was considerate and brought her windchimes in at the night. I finally weighed in and asked whether anyone seemed to care about the trespassing and theft. Wasn’t that against some sort of rule? Very little response.
mrmoshpotato
@narya: Did you go for the second night too?
Jeffg166
@MomSense: I never bought into the car culture. When I was a teen someone else had a car to get around. I did drive as a teen but moved to Philadelphia at age 25. I worked walking distance to various jobs I had here for decades. Last 20 years of working took place online from my home.
Phylllis
@opiejeanne: My issue is that most (all, maybe?) venues have gone cash-free, which I think is a burden on lower income folks who could otherwise scrape together the funds for an outing. The Braves have reverse ATM’s for lack of a better term, where you can insert cash and get back gift cards for use in the park. However, once it’s on the card, that’s it-you can’t convert it back to cash.
mrmoshpotato
@OverTwistWillie: Well played.
Kay
@geg6:
Oh, that’s too bad. I could tell you loved your job. I’m trying to gradually extricate myself from my practice. My husband really likes to travel so I think that will end up being the incentive for him to retire.
kalakal
@Quinerly: Both Mrs kalakal and I have multifocal implants. I was extremely short sighted and have worn glasses/ contacts for over 40 years. It’s been about 10 years now, I get some haloing but that’s all, don’t need vision aids (yet).
Mrs kalakal had astigmatism and was also short sighted. She’s had Lasik surgery in the past and so had tissue damage. She doesn’t get the haloing as much but the multifocal part isn’t quite 100%, she needs reading glasses sometimes. She was developing cateracts.
The surgery was quick and painless. You do have to take a lot of eyedrops in the days after but recovery is really fast. I recommend it
mrmoshpotato
@Quinerly: Wind chimes? Annoyed by wind chimes? These slapdicks…
Quinerly
@CaseyL:
It’s TOXIC.
Out here it’s also people walking in the neighborhood, my wind chime story I just relayed.
AND…a real trigger…A Dollar General that went in here pre Covid and before my time. You hardly notice the building. It’s built adobe style, small signage. You really have to be aware of it to realize it’s there at first. Sits back across the highway, sideways with the end towards the road.
At least 2 times a month there is an anti DG post. And it always starts with, “I would never shop there but I heard……”
Nothing ever of any significance. I lived in the inner city of St Louis for 40 years. There were shoot outs in front of Family Values and The Dollar Tree.
Like I said, love that I moved but I am in the land of mostly Liberal Snowflakes triggered by windchimes ,cheap milk and cheap plastic flowerpots.
Eye opening…..
narya
@mrmoshpotato: Yup. I typically do all the nights of a stand, if I can get tickets. I find that the first night is rarely the best show, oddly enough. One tour (Tunnel of Love, maybe?) at Rosemont, I think, the first night the crowd was way more interested in getting another beer, but the second night ROCKED. The crowd was into it, and he feeds off that.
Steeplejack
A bit of good news about that federal judge in New Orleans I reported on a week or so ago:
Captain C
@Jeffro:
She seems more like the type to drunkenly invite herself to sing onstage with the band a Russian oligarch’s wedding.
Chief Oshkosh
@rikyrah: Saw one of those dumbasses the other day at a gas station, with what appeared to be a Glock strapped around his gut. Think Homer Simpson without the brains. Ace McFuckup proceeded to trip (probably on his own shoelace) and fell forward. Given the lack of a true safety, I was surprised that the damned thing didn’t go off and result in Ace being called Nine Toes Tommy for the rest of his life. Maybe it wasn’t a Glock.
Well, at least Tony Scaly is still dead.
Quinerly
@mrmoshpotato:
I still can’t believe that fucking thread. I have Indian brass bells and Tibetan Prayer Flags which I am sure are against some sort of rule. My lot is bigger and I can’t see my neighbors. Nor can they see me, my yards, my flags. Long driveway….it takes a mission to get to me. Can’t see my house from the road. Plus, the back of my property faces the wide open community owned green space. The set up here is absolutely the only set up I would have considered if being in a HOA. I guess the hikers on the green space can hear them if the wind is right. JoJo will deal with them if they come anywhere near his yard. He already thinks he owns the greenspace. On alert.
Kay
Isn’t Musk one of the Right wing Great Replacement freaks who goes on and on about the birthrate, meaning the white birthrate?
Quinerly
@kalakal:
Thanks for all this info.
Much appreciated. I had read about the haloing with that kind of surgery.
Kay
@Steeplejack:
Oh, I’m glad. Victims of child sexual abuse have so much to deal with – I really didn’t also want them to have the handle the rage they must feel because of this corrupt judge.
Maybe they can finally get a fair hearing. Somewhere. By someone.
Quinerly
@mrmoshpotato:
❤️
Baud
@Kay:
It doesn’t take 2 weeks in the hospital to be born, Kay.
Steeplejack
@Kay:
Musk only cares about his birth rate.
kalakal
@Quinerly: yeah, it’s not that bad. The freaky bit is driving at night, point light sources such as headlights are badly affected. You get used to it but at first it’s really difficult to work out distances, closing speeds of other cars .
Almost Retired
@Kay: This is spot on. I’ve been retiring from my law practice for two years, but can’t quit completely quit yet because after all these years, the work gets easier and my rate gets higher.
Plus…yeah…..my social life is a bit lawyer-heavy.
On the other hand, my tolerance for listening to whiny, long-winded client stories is waning rapidly. I’m starting to make Tucker Carlson faces during intake interviews, so maybe it’s about time for a hard stop.
kalakal
@mrmoshpotato: I have a friend who made his pile and moved out of his place in London to a very nice house in the country. Said the noise was far worse, mowers, tractors, leafblowers etc
Quinerly
@kalakal:
I have read this. The multifocal lens is the third type of surgery as I understand it.
I’m starting Mon trying to get an appt with another place in Albuquerque that does all 3 types. Probably will be a several month wait just for the consultation.
Again, thanks for taking the time and care to weigh in. Much appreciated.
oatler
@MomSense:
The kids have seen “Archer” and are always ready to break out Bartleby the Scrivener references about their own plight.
Steve in the ATL
@Steeplejack: he’s clearly SCOTUS material!
smith
@Kay: Oh, he still wants white breeders to get on with it. He just also wants them to quit their jobs and fulfill their destinies as subordinate little housewives.
Steve in the ATL
@oatler:
That’s good parenting!
kalakal
@Kay: Sadly mines going the other way. We’re chronically short staffed and so I’m having to spend more and more time doing reference desk work rather than the archival stuff I love. It’s frustrating in that I don’t get to use that knowledge and experience. I’m just holding on for a couple of years for medicare.
I used to love it but people just seem to be getting nastier and meaner these days.
Quinerly
Sorry for the Liberal Snowflake comment. It may not come off too great. This is a learning experience for me. First, I am in the land of couples in this neighborhood. I have been told to my face “how odd” that is…..single women in a “big house.” Second, the area is probably 80% Dem. But the kind of Dems into enforcing, I guess, every tiny rule like the windchime noise pollution. Constant griping on Next Door about the little, local, independent grocery store not really being a Whole Foods kind of Liberals.
Very sensitive Liberals.
At least I don’t have to worry about guns. Most appear to be anti gun.
Another Scott
@narya: I was at the first shows at the Rosemont Horizon (around 1982, dunno what it’s called now) to see Fleetwood Mac – first 2 nights. The first night there was a TV crew doing a live segment from inside the crowd, and lots of people were just distracted by the new facility (and wondering whether it was going to cave in (because of something failing and killing a worker (IIRC) during construction) – FM opened with Landslide).
The crowd the 2nd night was much more attentive, participatory, and it was a much better show.
I’ve only seen Bruce live outdoors (at WolfTrap, I think) during his Seeger Sessions phase (cause J wanted to see it). Good show, but it was clear that lots of the crowd was hoping he would crank up Born to Run or something. ;-)
When I was in college in Chicago, I would hear these stories about this guy from NJ who would have these amazing 4 hour shows downtown, probably The River tour, but never got to see one.
Cheers,
Scott.
narya
My “retirement” has been interesting. You all may remember that it wasn’t quite voluntary–I took the severance offer and RAN with it. I am still decompressing, four months later, and I’ve realized just how stressful it had become.
The biggest issue is that I was not quite eligible for Medicare (later this year I will be), and, with the consulting work on offer, had NO clue what my income might be for the year. I am naturally cautious, so probably spent more on the exchange than I might have needed to spend–figuring that I’ll get it back next year if I overestimated my income. Actually signing up was pretty easy, but that has been a financial hit that I would not have had if I had been able to work another six months. Despite that, the de-stressing has made me realize that it’s been worth it in terms of my mental health. I probably could have powered through, but . . . whew.
mrmoshpotato
@narya: Soaked on the field! :)
Layer8Problem
@mrmoshpotato: “He is more machine now than man.”
narya
@Another Scott: I grew up in NJ, so what I was hearing about was the person doing really long shows at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr PA . . . and of course he was all over the Philly radio stations.
kindness
Jim VandeHei (& Mike Allen) have been Pravda for Republicans even before they started Politico back in 2007. From there they started Axios which does much the same thing but a (very tiny) bit less in your face about the Pravda vibe.
Talk about the MSM leading America to a fascist theocracy and these two assholes are in the first tier. It’s a big tier sadly. My guess is they think they’d do fine in New Gilead. My suspicion is they haven’t looked at what actually happened to journalists during the last fascist empire. Or the current one in Russia.
Kelly
I saw my first family of goslings grazing in the pasture across the river yesterday. Lovely wildflowers along my walks the last few weeks. Looking forward to the merganser families. Baby mergansers calmly navigate whitewater when they are no more than fuzzy ping pong balls.
Kristine
@lowtechcyclist: Heartiest congrats! It will be 10 years for me this July and I still wonder how I had time for the day job. The hours fly.
You come to realize how much Life you had to let slide.
smith
@kindness: This is something that has puzzled me for years watching the MSM treat the descent of the Republican party into full-bore fascism, and treating it as politics as usual — are they really naive enough to think that the First Amendment will stand in the new world order?
Kayla Rudbek
@Kay: lead exposure finally catching up with the Boomers.
cain
@Quinerly: It is a thing – sometimes the liberal caricature fits. It’s definitely a white liberal thing. You can sometimes see it here on this top 500 blog. We tend to have an overabundance of zeal.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@smith:
I call it the “Chuck Todd-John King-George Stephanoupolis-Andrea Mitchell-Maureen Dowd-Barbara Walters-Mark Halperin Effect”, where mediocre talents infest prime pundit slots without any genuine commitment to probing and no real connection to broader society.
You’ll never get assertive policy probes from any of those types.
trollhattan
The Bruni thing is so precious–reminiscent of the third-way types who urge any Democratic president to select a Republican VP so as to “truly bring us back together.” Like they’d ever, in a millennium, recommend a Republican president pick a Democrat[sic] VP or stuff his cabinet with Democrats, to “bring us back together.” Funny how that works.
MagdaInBlack
@Quinerly: You did not offend me. When my political belief comes up, I refer to myself as a “woke liberal snowflake.” It usually ends the conversation, unless the other person is one of “us” and gets the joke. 😊
Eta: and F those people with their comments about your life choice.
Mike E
Gotta say the Phila Eagles enjoy dining in Athens, wouldn’t you agree raven? :-)
trollhattan
A reminder that Tucker remains out of a job and Rupert Murdoch remains alive, still actively destroying journalism around the globe.
Quinerly
@cain:
I’m navigating a new frontier for me. Pretty much 100% White in my neighborhood. Never lived in a situation like that.
One guy seems to have appointed himself as the “border control” for our area of the neighborhood.
Says he was “curious” and “wanted to help” since I was new. Inquired whether my “workers” (the side yard) had a business license. I tried to cut him off with the very abrupt…”Miguel and Bogart are my friends from Albuquerque helping me with the project.” (Which they are…have regular jobs outside of construction, this is a side gig).
Old White neighbor man wanted to let me know I should never hire anyone without a business license…..and if they can’t show one at the end, don’t pay them for the work. And then he smiled.
He’s a Dem. I have discussed politics with him and his wife.
Quinerly
@MagdaInBlack:
Thanks.
cmorenc
@cain: ,
Skiing lift passes (especially one or two-day passes) have become prohibitively expensive over the last 10-20 years, with the result that the number of unique skiers at most ski areas is steady or declining (by :”unique” I mean counting a particular person who skis multiple days at a particular area only once) They cost $150+ per day at most larger, better-known ski areas, though you can still find some smaller, more local areas (especially those with more limited terrain) selling walk-up (or short notice) lift passes at more affordable prices in the $75-$100 range. And then if you don’t already own your equipment, rentals are another $40+ per day (for the average-grade, not performance-level equipment).
Although global warming is of course a looming potential threat to ski areas, with the possible future result of shortened ski seasons, nonetheless that is not a factor (yet) in flattening or even slowly shrinking participation – cost is.
PJ
deleted
rikyrah
@Steeplejack:
Good😠😠
rikyrah
@Kay:
Yes, Kay, he is😠
PJ
@Quinerly: What a crooked creep.
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
I appreciate the discussion about this topic. Learning lots
Gvg
@CaseyL: you can turn off the notifications. I forget how exactly but i figured it out by messing around in the settings.
Mine was driving me crazy with boring useless updates. Posting had dropped so much that the updates were repeats of previous days. 1 new post a day or such….
The paranoid ones are sad. The suspicious drivers could have been me when i was house hunting, scouting neighborhoods. But apparently its everywhere.
mrmoshpotato
@Quinerly:
Haha, what?
“I’m a liberal, but fuck small businesses!”
Quinerly
@mrmoshpotato:
Like I said…this is an eye opening experience. I’m used to starving artist and musician Liberals.
Actually, not quite that sheltered….but I have spent a lot of years surrounding myself with folks who couldn’t afford “Whole Paycheck.” In related news, I’m a Trader Joe’s kinda chick.
Quinerly
@rikyrah:
Hoping to gather better info from different doctor I will try to get an appt with. Starting on calls on Mon.
I’m kicking myself for not doing this before moving from St. Louis.
Quinerly
@PJ:
Yes. Geographically my closest neighbor. Don’t want him anywhere inside my walls and fences. He’s a snoop. Plus, I get a reporting stuff to HOA kinda vibe out of him. I can tell he is into “rules.”
I like rules. I like to know what they are. Sometimes I push them. Been known to break them. But that’s my own damn business.
Quinerly
@PJ:
I should have said, “Sounds like something a Trumper would do.”
Sister Golden Bear
My getaway weekend got off to a wonderful start last night with a mud bath and spa in Calistoga, CA. I was definitely jelly afterwards. Calistoga has natural hot springs, and even its own Old Faithful geyser.
Followed up with a wonderful dinner at a New Mexican restaurant that my ex-Pat friends assured me is the real deal — including green chile apple pie.
Staying at a renovated old motel in Santa Rose, very hipster.
Spending a lazy day exploring the area. May visit Robert Louis Stevenson park, where he wrote several books, is currently buried.
stinger
@Quinerly:
Good lord. Disgusting. I’m horrified to think that I share any political or other views with such a person.
Quinerly
@stinger:
Told my friend who moved from MS out here 50 years ago. She wasn’t surprised one bit. White guys of all political voting persuasions hiring Brown guys and then using the excuse of no business license to not pay or only pay part. I’m surprised there’s not physical violence.
Sister Golden Bear
The Tesla “surrounding traffic” display is mostly gimmicky, but is really useful if you’re about to change lanes and there’s traffic zooming up in adjacent lanes that you might missed.
Also when you use the turn signals, the display shows the rear-facing view from the side camera. I still check the mirror, but it’s a useful additional safety check, especially at night, since the night vision gives you a much better view of things like bicyclist not using lights.
That said, there’s a reason car manufacturers are starting to move away from touchscreens—they discovered customers rightfully hate them. Even Tesla’s latest software release added new functionality to the scroll buttons on the steering wheel. Although some of the functionalism aren’t the most relevant ones.
Kristine
@Quinerly: Getting that “X-Files HOA episode” vibe.
I get the need for them, I guess. I’ve only lived in one place that had one, a townhouse complex. A neighbor with a lovely–and tiny–flower garden by her front door was dinged because her planting were so different from other people’s. When my Dad parked the admittedly large rental truck in the parking lot when he moved his and Mom’s stuff up from Florida, there were complaints. Those I could understand, though, b/c parking was usually scarce.
The flower complaint got to me, though.
cain
Cue the bizarre video of DeSantis in Japan with that weird thing he was doing with his face.
Quinerly
@Kristine:
Like I said, never would have considered an HOA situation but for the house and how situated. The fees are very modest with good bang for the bucks on amenities. Rules not really that strict. More about neat and tidy. RVs behind fences, no laundry hanging to dry, storage buildings added have to be run by HOA. Houses have to have that same adobe style, so no weird add on additions. Dark sky community, so all wiring underground and no street lamps.
I just need to accept that I have nothing in common with my neighbors. I’m good with that.
Quinerly
@cain:
🩵
Another Scott
@cain:
TheOnion.com – Goofy Beats Ron DeSantis To Death With Crowbar.
Cheers,
Scott.
cain
Just shows how much of this is performative bullshit. You can find this attitude in Boulder that people like to say is the “Portland” of Colorado – I think not. Lot of rich liberals who also do the same stuff. Not that Portland has any claim to it either. I found Denver to be much more properly liberal with a great mixing of different cultures.
sab
@Sister Golden Bear: Omg I am relaxing just reading about your weekend. I hope it is as lovely as it sounds.
Fleeting Expletive
@Quinerly: I have, having been seriously nearsighted since childhood. I thought the cataract extraction, intraocular lens implants to correct vision, were miraculous.
Unfortunately some years later I injured my right eye pretty badly, destroying my iris, so vision in that eye is blurry, but it is lovely to escape the contact lenses routine after many years. The lens implant in my left eye still works very well for me, and it’s been almost ten years. I’m a big fan of cataract surgery and lens implants.
Oh, there was an unexpected benefit from the cataract surgery–colors became so much purer and more vivid in my eyesight that I began collecting blue cobalt-type glass objects so I can see them in all my windows!
sab
@Fleeting Expletive: My husband has been like you to the extent that his opthamologist says that he is a freaky good result and she would appreciate him not overselling her. He wants me into her office. She and I are fighting this.
Quinerly
@cain:
You nailed it. I probably should have moved closer to Albuquerque.
kalakal
@cain:
I can’t imagine that, what I can imagine is President Cruz heading for Cancun on Air Force One at the slightest sign of trouble
delphinium
@Kristine:
Friends of mine who lived in an HOA neighborhood in Phoenix got dinged because the rock garden in their front yard had larger stones that were too “dark” and they had to replace them with lighter ones. Another couple got dinged because they had a Canadian flag flying outside (they also flew an American one).
cain
@delphinium:
I was in an HOA meaning – I was on the board. The kind of complaints people would have. It’s just so much nonsense. It’s just a way to be passive aggressive against your neighbor because you don’t like them for some reason.
I like being on an HOA for the community bits, but not for this nonsense.
I used to dream of getting back at HOAs by coloring my hair in wild colors and dressing counter-culture – because you know that shit will trigger people in the neighborhood – but I think it might be a stretch too far if an HOA has the ability to police your personal style choices. :-)
delphinium
@cain:
Yeah, I have stayed away from HOAs for those reasons. When my friends told me about the rocks, I thought they were joking. The rocks weren’t even a funky color-just brownish, natural desert rocks. But guess only rocks beige or lighter were allowed-wild! I didn’t understand about the Canadian flag either-apparently someone on their street held a grudge against our lovely neighbors up north.
Benw
@narya: that rules
J R in WV
@Quinerly:
I think you dodged a bullet there, the surgeon isn’t interested in her career, not really. There are good ophthalmic surgeons out there, and they should al be able to discuss all the cataract surgeries in all the facets of that work.
Sister Golden Bear
@Another Scott: From your lips to Walt’s ears.
Quinerly
@J R in WV:
I feel very confident that I dodged a bullet. Thanks for feeling the same way!
Hope you are doing well. I have been reading your comments and thinking about you. I have problems with discussing health matters/issues, in general. Just know I read your comments
evodevo
@Quinerly: I’m due at the surgeon’s office in two weeks for a cataract consult. I, too, am near-sighted with astigmatism and have been wearing monofit contacts for 50 yrs… if you get any answers, I’d like to know. My optometrist referred me to this practice, so I’m hoping they will have answers and know what they are doing…
Shana
I love that Chris Christie, notorious Springsteen fan, clearly prefers the Obamas. I bet he seethes any time something like this happens.
Origuy
@Sister Golden Bear: I was in the area last weekend. Had an orienteering event in Pacific Union College Demonstration Forest, above Angwin. A very nice area for hiking or mountain biking, with views of Pope Valley to the east. PCU is run by the Seventh-Day Adventists and most of the people in town belong to the church, I think.
I got a campsite in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. Any place in the Valley is too expensive just to crash for the night. The campground is very nice, if a little noisy. Had dinner at Soo Yuan in Calistoga. Relatively inexpensive Chinese.
TerryC
@kalakal: I live on 17 acres off a dirt road. My sounds are mostly the wind, birds, and my tinnitus.
Miss Bianca
@Kay: Oh, wow…the funny thing is, I remember this book! I read it myself as a kid! But I had completely forgotten it till I saw the cover again!
Quinerly
@evodevo:
Late back to the thread. Thanks for chiming in. Let’s continue to compare info. Look for me on a morning thread or weekend thread when you have info. No way I will know too much more before you. I have to start over trying to get in with someone.
Good luck. Stay in touch if you can. Thanks.
Quinerly
@Fleeting Expletive:
Thanks for the info!